Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to worker safety and, in particular, to work schedule creation based on predicted and detected temporal and event based individual risk to maintain cumulative workplace safety risk below a threshold.
Description of the Related Art
Worldwide there are around 350,000 workplace fatalities and 270 million workplace injuries annually. According to the National Safety Council, in the U.S. alone, this results in $750 billion in lost wages and productivity, medical expenses, administrative costs, motor vehicle damage, employer's uninsured costs and fire loss. This includes about 4,400 worker deaths due to job injuries, close to 50,000 deaths due to work-related injuries, and approximately 4 million workers who suffered non-fatal work related injuries or illnesses. An estimated 14 million people worked in the U.S. manufacturing sector in 2010, and there were 329 deaths due to job injuries, with $1.4 million in costs associated with each death, and 127,140 non-fatal injuries involving days away from work. In 2008, contact with objects and equipment was the leading cause of death (resulting in 116 deaths) and the leading cause of non-fatal injuries involving days away from work (60,430 cases) in the U.S. manufacturing sector. Overexertion is the second leading cause of non-fatal injuries involving days away from work.
Today factory workers self-assess risk in different situations and with different machines based largely on their prior experience. However, this approach is insufficient in many situations. For example, relatively new workers, or even veteran workers who have recently been tasked with working with new equipment, may not have the experience necessary to properly evaluate their risk. Thus, there is a need for improved workplace accident avoidance.